Perceptions by
Gerry Warner
As you try to
digest the blockbuster announcement out of Victoria this week that Jumbo, the
world’s most delayed ski project is going ahead, there are several salient
points to keep in mind.
The first and
most important you shouldn’t forget is
that Jumbo is first and foremost a real estate play. The fact that people will
also ski in that less-than-pristine valley is incidental. The money to be made
building Whistler in the Kootenays will come from the sale and rental of condos, townhouses, hotels, lodges and
monster log edifices like you see at any ski resort in B.C. be it Fernie,
Kimberley, Big White or Whistler.
Now, is it such
a big surprise that a so-called “free enterprise” government with a
passionate, ideological belief in the free market that borders on the
religious and numbering many of the
province’s biggest developers, realtors and businessmen in its ranks would
approve a Palace of Versailles in the wilderness where the rich and idle can
play?
Do fish swim? Do
birds fly? Does the sun rise in the east? The only surprising thing about the
Jumbo announcement is that it didn’t come years ago. And why didn’t it, you
rightfully ask?
The answer is
relatively simple. Many, but by no means
all, of the people living in close
proximity to Jumbo vehemently oppose the project. Some for quite selfish reasons
because they want to play there themselves and others because they sincerely
believe that the Kootenays needs another ski resort like the proverbial hole in
the head and they would prefer to see their beautiful part of the world less
overrun by rich interlopers from Alberta
and elsewhere.
Then there are
the environmentalists who waged a marathon campaign against the project that was
both emotional and strategic and kept a succession of governments on edge and
afraid to make a move on Jumbo. One of their smartest moves was planting hockey
legend Scott Niedermayer on Jumbo’s lofty summit and posting a heroic picture of
him that went viral around the world
garnering incredible support for
the anti-Jumbo campaign. Ironically, many
of the environmentalists’ arguments were dubious at best and some plain false as
the claim that the heavily logged and mined valley was “pristine.” But to the
many opposed to the mega-resort this
doesn’t matter, and industrially damaged
or not, Jumbo is still a spectacularly
scenic and relatively unscathed valley that has managed to escape much of
the world’s march of “progress.”
And then there’s
one not-so-little legal matter that’s stayed under the radar most of the time
but exerted tremendous power on the government to cave on Jumbo. It could be
best described as abuse of process, namely that by delaying the Jumbo decision
for so long, the government owed the
original would-be developer Oberto Oberti compensation. Lots of compensation. Very expensive
compensation. In fact, only a few years
ago the then Campbell Liberals paid $30 million in compensation to Boss Power, a
mining company that was suing them for taking back a permit it had issued the company to
mine uranium near Penticton.
Don’t think for
a moment that putative Jumbo developer Oberti was unaware of this expensive
settlement and would have been in court in a flash seeking the same remedy if
Jumbo was ultimately turned down.
Finally there’s
the matter of the Ktunaxa aboriginal
claim to the Jumbo territory, a deeply spiritual issue to the Ktunaxa people who
harbor strong feelings about the threatened grizzly bears that live in the
valley. The government’s feeble attempts to appease the Ktunaxa was one of the major factors why
the decision was delayed so long and is still a major factor in the Jumbo issue.
The Ktunaxa have made it clear they will continue their fight against Jumbo in
the courts and Canadian courts are traditionally very sympathetic to native
claims.
Which brings us
to the greatest irony of all in the Jumbo announcement. There are people in
government and outside that are calling the announcement a “victory” for their
cause when in fact it’s nothing of the kind. It may be one victory in the Jumbo
battle, but the Jumbo war is far from over.
The strongest
arguments against Jumbo are not environmental or aboriginal, but economic.
Simply put, in today’s shaky financial world there is no market for resort real
estate in a glacial valley 55 kilometres off a paved road where you will have
snow on your roof 10 months of the year and a big, mean glacier staring you in
the face.
In short, Jumbo
is doomed. Not by environmentalists or the native people, but by the free
market, which in its infinite wisdom, will ensure that few people will ever want
to invest there.
For two more local articles by Ian Cobb:
